Enjoy a bit of heat with sweet, peppery rutabaga
As you’ve noticed, there is slim pickings at the produce department when winter rolls around. The lettuce looks like a handful of crepe paper haphazardly tied together, broccoli looks like a bouquet of baby’s breath and cauliflower prices just jacked up to $7 a head.
What is affordable and plentiful in Ontario right now are root vegetables. Instead of the customary potatoes and carrots, try rutabaga: a hefty, softball-sized starchy vegetable with a purple and yellow exterior. It’s like the bigger cousin of the turnip with a sweeter taste that’ll remind you of a peppery cabbage. The one I bought last week cost just $1.53 (it weighed 700 grams).
In Europe, rutabagas go by their Scandinavian names, “neeps” or “swedes,” as the vegetable is thought to have originated from that region.
If you’re planning to celebrate Robbie Burns Day, you will be eating the traditional dish of “tatties and neeps” which is essentially mashed potatoes and cooked rutabaga. A rutabaga’s heartiness lends itself well to stews, meat pies and casseroles, but you can also bake it, slice it paper thin for a crunchy salad topping, or in this case, dice it into cubes and sauté until it gets a slightly crispy and golden exterior.
Pair the rutabaga’s slightly spicy flavour with white meat such as pork and add a big handful of spinach leaves, one of the few leafy greens available year-round.
This will be the year you finally know what to do with a rutabaga.
Seared Pork Chop With Garlicky Rutabaga
Star Tested 1 cup (250 mL) rutabaga, peeled and diced into 1 cm cubes 2 tsp (10 mL) olive oil 1/2 tsp (2 mL) table salt 1/4 tsp (1 mL) black pepper 1 finely minced garlic clove 1 bone- in pork chop 8-10 oz (230-300g) 1/4 tsp (1 mL) table salt 1/2 tsp (2 mL) pepper 1 tbsp (15 mL) olive oil 2 tsp (10 mL) Dijon mustard 2 cups (500 mL) spinach leaves In a bowl, toss together rutabaga, olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic. In a small skillet over medium-high heat, sauté rutabaga until golden brown and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Transfer to serving plate.
Season both sides of pork chop with salt, olive oil, pepper, olive oil and Dijon. In a small skillet or grill pan over medium-high heat, sear pork on each side until there is just a hint of pink flesh in the middle, about 5 to 7 minutes per side. Transfer to serving plate with rutabaga and spinach. Let pork chop rest for 3 minutes before serving.
Using that small skillet, sauté spinach over medium heat until just wilted, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to serving plate. Serve immediately. Makes 1 serving. karonliu@thestar.ca